It's All Greek To Me... ;)

8/3/08
This morning when I woke up at 7, we were already docked in Piraeus. Exciting! After the normal morning meeting routine, Tanya and I were off to buy ferry tickets to take us to an island, we were sure which one; we finally decided on Aegina, which was an hour away. After we got our tickets, we headed to the subway to go to Athens! The subway system is not very hard to navigate and after about a 20-minute ride, we were in Athens (by 11). When we got off the subway, we got a phylo-dough biscuit filled with warm feta cheese, it was delicious, as well as a fredoccino (which is a frozen cappuccino). We went to the Acropolis (even though Tanya came to Greece to help with the 2004 Olympics and saw all the sights before) and got the student discount, which was really nice. We had to climb this huge hill to get to the Parthenon, which had a spectacular view; you could see everything! Tanya and I sat up on the wall and talked for a good 30 minutes while just looking at our surroundings! We went over and looked at Athena’s temple, which was soo cool as well. After spending a little time on the hill, we went to this huge rock and sat on there for a little bit, it was where peter preached to 1,000 people many many years ago! When we were done being lazy and sitting and people/city watching, we decided to move along and see a temple that was on a nearby hill. On the way, we stopped at a very old church and went inside, it was only one room with paintings inside that were fading away. I have no idea how it was, but it was pretty cool. After checking it out, we continued toward the temple, but me being the graceful person that I am, I stubbed my toe on a rock. I was just going to let it go, when Tanya pointed out that my toe was basically gushing blood. It was really disgusting, so we went to the little information desk and they provided me with band-aids, saline solution, and iodine. The guy behind the desk even came out and helped me fix my toe up it was really nice of him. We never made it to the temple, on account of my toe being super messed up and it being on a big hill. We were ready to leave the acropolis area and head toward the shops and get something to eat. We walked through the marketplace and Tanya and I got sandals in one of the shops for a really decent price! They are so cool! We continued walking, and one of the shop owners (a fifty some odd old guy) commented on my necklace – my Celtic cross, which kind of resembles the Greek Orthodox cross. He asked where I got it, at home or in Greece, and I told him at home. He then proceeded to tell me his love for America and how he used to live in California for a little bit, and how I look Greek, talked about our plans, and then he said that if I ever came back to Greece, that he’d take me to Santorini since I didn’t get a chance to go this time. Kinda awkward. We said goodbye and kept on keeping on. We FINALLY found gyros, so we got one! They were HUGE and sooo good. I got a chicken one, because I didn’t see lamb on the menu. We walked around a little more through the market place before getting on the subway and visiting the little town that Tanya stayed in when she was there 4 years before, but nothing was open because it was a Sunday and was not a tourist area, so we got back on the subway to Piraeus. When we got back, we got a Freddochino and headed back to the ship to relax. Little did I remember it was my friend Emily’s birthday and we had plans to go out for dinner and some drinks. I got ready quickly and we met on the gangway with some other girls who were coming, including Caitlin, a girl that lives in Windber and was in the Windber colorguard. I had a sandwich and a glass of wine. We were going to find a club to go dance, but no one was feeling well – the ship termed it ‘Pharoah’s Revenge’ (aka bad diarrhea from Egypt), so we stopped at a little local bar by the ship for Emily to get a birthday drink – it was her 21st. I got a red martini since I had never had one before, and it took me like 1 ½ hours to drink because it was pretty strong – it was a small glass, too. There were 2 older men there who were really confused about why we were in that bar instead of at a club with the younger kids. We went back to the ship; I got my computer and headed to the port to get Wi-Fi. I got to talk to the family and wish nana and pap happy anniversary for like 2 minutes but something was weird with the connection, so I couldn’t stay connected; it was still nice to see familiar faces! I went to bed then, because I had to get up early to get ready for the island tomorrow!!

8/4/08
Last night was TERRIBLE! I woke up many times during the night, but I accidentally woke up my roommate up at 5am because I was moaning and breathing heavily in my sleep because my stomach hurt so badly. I had to get up for good at 6:50 when Amber woke me up, I was supposed to meet Tanya at 7 for breakfast before getting out 8 am ferry. I slept most of the hour it took to get to Aegina. When we got there, we went straight to the tourist office to get a place to stay for the night. It was 20 euro each for the night for a double bed, fridge, TV, AC, and bathroom. It was a fairly good deal. Once we got settled, we went to the beach!! It was a good 20 minutes from our room, but it was a pretty walk. We laid out for a bit, got nice and hot, and then got in the FREEZING water. I was only able to stay in the water for a short amount of time because it was so cold, and then we laid out to dry off. We started to get a little hungry and my stomach was still hurting, so we stoppd at a little fruit stand/grocery store on our way back to the room and I got an apple, crackers, and water. We took a nap when we got back to the room, I slept for 2 hours and Tanya slept for 1 and explored around our room for an hour. We walked around once I woke up, and went to a pay phone for Tanya to call with the phone card that she bought. We walked around the outskirts of the island before getting some dinner. We found a cute place off the main street, where I got a crepe and eggs, which turned out not to be the greatest idea because I felt sick after I ate it. We went back to the room for me to lay down and I decided that it would be best for me to go back to the ship tonight because I still was feeling crappy (no pun intended). Tanya’s friends were to come on the 8pm ferry to the island, so she wouldn’t be alone, but they ended up missing the last ferry by 15 minutes, but I really needed to get back to the ship for the comfort of ‘home. I felt really bad, but I left Tanya there by herself; it was a safe island and I, myself would have been fine staying overnight by myself. I took the last ferry – the flying dolphin – back to the ship and it only took 45 minutes. I got some ginger ale, talked to Marissa for a little bit, and then went to bed.

8/5/08
I slept in this morning since I still wasn’t feeling well when I went to bed last night. I got some lunch and saw Jackie who was being a bum that day too, and told her that I was meeting Emily and Heather later when they got back from Athens. When they got back, we went to the port authority and got stamps and Internet. I came back to the ship to wait for Marissa to get back from a trip and watched A Walk to Remember. When Marissa came back, I was feeling much better – not 100% yet – and we went out looking for a theater to see Mamma Mia!, but came up short handed. We decided to go out for dessert and I got a chocolate soufflé. It was SOO good, but I couldn’t finish it because it was so rich. We came back to the ship and I got some Internet at the port building and tried to video chat with Stephanie again, but it didn’t work, so I talked to her and then my mom on AIM. It was my mom’s first AIM chat, pretty exciting haha. Bedtime!! Tomorrow is our last day in Greece!!

8/6/08
I could not get my butt out of bed this morning! Amber and I woke up at 8, went to breakfast, and then went back to bed until around 10:30. Marissa and I decided to walk around and shop a little before meeting up with Heather and Emily for lunch at 1 (since my service visit to the SOS Children’s Village was cancelled). I tried to find some cool sandals for my mom, but the cute ones weren’t in her size ☹. We got lunch at a gyro place and then I got a freddoccino. Emily and I really wanted to find a grocery store to get some bottled water and snacks for the ship, so after walking around and asking multiple people, Emily and I found the store – Heather and Marissa went back to the ship. After shopping, we went back to the ship, I got one last dose of internet, sent my postcards, and then we watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! Perfect way to end Greece!!! ☺
Watch out Croatia, here we come!!!